


He Comes with a Bargain

by JuxtaposeFantasy



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Chp 102 spoilers, Chp 84 spoilers, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-09
Updated: 2018-02-09
Packaged: 2019-03-15 23:17:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13623561
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JuxtaposeFantasy/pseuds/JuxtaposeFantasy
Summary: Jean has grown-up and become a leader Levi didn't see coming.





	He Comes with a Bargain

**Author's Note:**

> My first SnK piece :) I'm Levi/Erwin, but after seeing Jean's transformation in 102, I had to write this.

It catches him off-guard every so often: a glimpse of a long, confident stride, a flash of blond hair. But then he gets a better look and of course it's not Erwin. Erwin is dead. 

This doppelganger is only Jean.

But these days, 'only' Jean is someone worth looking at twice. Difficult years have molded an annoying brat into a capable and unexpectedly handsome man. The glimmers of leadership potential Levi had occasionally seen in him as a teen are a full-fledged beacon now, providing structure and guidance to the rest of the Corps. Jean leads them because he’s earned it, and Levi won't begrudge him that.

But he won't give him more. He simply can't.

He's alone in his tent, sharpening his blades with a stone and promises of vengeance, when the flaps part and a long-legged stride carries in someone he doesn't want to see right now. Fate is a bitch. Levi knows this better than anyone. 

"Sir," Jean greets him. There's deference in his tone. Respect. But long gone is the intimidation. At some point Jean stopped being afraid of him, and Levi decides now that it was a dangerous turning point in their relationship.

"What do you want?" Levi mutters.

Jean opens his mouth to speak, but then doesn't say anything. He watches as Levi draws the stone up the blade, the action soothing for Levi, perhaps mesmerizing for Jean. He looks like a fish, Levi thinks derisively. But he only tells himself that to avoid acknowledging how he really feels about Jean's grown-up appearance. Without the scruffy beard and with shorter hair… _No. Don’t do that to yourself._

"If you're going to stand there gawping and wasting my time, get out."

With a jolt, Jean straightens. He stares ahead, above Levi's head. "No, sir. I have something to say."

"Spit it out, then."

"I-I know that you and he were close."

The soothing hiss of stone over metal ceases. The sudden silence is startling to them both and Levi is instantly embarrassed by what he has inadvertently revealed. He resumes sharpening again, but his rhythm is erratic and angry, like maddened slashes against an abnormal titan.

They don’t talk about Erwin anymore. Of course, they reference the ‘Commander’ when discussing plans and formations and they debate how the ‘Commander’ would have approached their current difficulties, but no one mentions Erwin the man, as though the squad has come to unspoken agreement that memories of Erwin belong to Levi alone.

For Jean to bring him up to Levi’s face is more than ballsy. It’s borderline suicidal.

"Get out."

"I harbor no illusions that I will ever near the greatness of Commander Smith," Jean goes on, voice driving stakes into the ground as though he refuses to yield.

"At least you're not a complete idiot."

"But I wanted to tell you, sir, that if you dedicate even a fraction of your heart to me, I will honor it as he did."

He glances at Levi then, his meaning utterly clear.

The stone skitters along the blade, doing more damage than good. Levi chucks it away, irritated that Jean doesn't flinch. Jean stands boldly—as Erwin once did—waiting for Levi's response to his preposterous offer as though there’s any chance in hell that Levi would say yes. It takes Levi back to the Underground, to that meeting he only dreams about because remembering it hurts too much. The resemblance to a young Erwin is unmistakable and Levi wants to gut Jean for daring so much.

And yet.

And yet.

Once upon a time, such daring gave him purpose. Levi feels it now: his heart, sluggish and tired since That Day, pumping a little faster now, a little harder. Traitorously, his mind unfolds a future vision of Levi tearing through titan after titan while down below, a new blond commander watches his progress with awe...and something more.

Levi surges to his feet, blade gripped backward for the most efficient slicing.

"You will never replace him," he says softly.

Jean drops his gaze so their eyes meet. "I don't intend to try. But I promise you, sir—Levi—that I won't let you down."

Levi doesn't need another liege. He doesn't want one. But he realizes that in Jean's steady, confident gaze he has found a reason not just to fight, but to live. 

Would Erwin want that?

It's a question he's never asked himself, because he's always known the answer to it.

"If you let me down,” he growls, “I'll behead you myself."

Jean's smile is filled with everything humanity should have given up on. Triumph. Elation. Hope.

Can I afford to feel those things again? Levi asks himself.

After Jean has left, shoulders squared with determination and proudly carrying the weight of Levi's dedication, Levi thinks that maybe, just maybe, he's willing to try.


End file.
